Prop Wireless Communication Some Guidance needed

Brian Carpenter

i have a need to communicate between props in a localized area of about 400 feet. I will have one propeller as the 'base station' and then several (2-4) other props as the remote locations. I need to have bidirectional comms with each one. Each will need to update the 'base station' and vise versa. can this be accomplished by using the parallax 433 mhz transmitters and recievers. This solutions seams clunky as it would seem that each would have to have the transmitter and Reciever on it. An then lies the problem of managing the comms (who's turn is it to talk). Would my problems be any simpler with the Xbee devices? Please let me know what you all think. Thanks

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It's Only A Stupid Question If You Have Not Googled It First!!

SRLM

Is it line of sight or urban? Are the two locations battery powered or grid powered? What speed are you looking for (how much data)?

Erik Friesen

I have been using the digi Xtends at $179 each, and they work seamlessly. I suppose they would be overkill for your application as they are rated at up to 40 miles LOS. They have numerous options to facilitate what you are talking about, and can easily be set up for the master to poll all the slaves, and take care of any collision issues. With a 115k over the air rate, I doubt you will overrun the uarts as they have about a 2k uart buffer. I think digi will have something similar that would be a bit cheaper, for only transmitting 400 feet, unless you are in trees or inside a building.